Hot Topics:

Jessica Ghawi giveSPORTS drive returns for third year

Broomfield-based A Precious Child, Kroenke Sports helping kids get in the game, carrying on dream of theater shooting victim

By Enterprise Staff

Posted:
08/13/2014 01:00:18 PM MDT

Updated:
08/22/2014 10:57:57 AM MDT

GEAR FOR KIDS: Volunteers collect donations at the second annual Jessica Ghawi giveSPORTS drive last year at the Pepsi Center. The drive returns on Aug. 23. (Erin Hull / The Denver Post)

Want to give?

The third annual Jessica Ghawi giveSPORTS drive will be from 7 a.m. to noon Aug. 23 in the parking lot of the Pepsi Center in Denver. Donations of new and gently-used sports equipment and money will be accepted. For more information, go to apreciouschild.org.

Jessica Redfield Ghawi loved sports. And thanks to her passion, thousands of kids are getting the chance to do the same.

Ghawi was killed in the Aurora movie theater shootings in July 2012. Before her death, while working as an intern at Altitude Sports and Entertainment, her dream was to organize a hockey equipment drive for kids who had lost everything in the summer's wildfires.

After her death, her dream was carried forward by Kroenke Sports, adopted by Broomfield-based nonprofit A Precious Child and expanded to include all types of sports equipment.

The first-ever Jessica Redfield Ghawi giveSPORTS Equipment Drive in 2012 collected more than 25,000 pieces of sports equipment and more than $20,000 for the Jessica Redfield Ghawi giveSPORTS Scholarship Fund.

After last year's second annual drive, more than 45,000 pieces of new and gently-used sports equipment had been collected and distributed to underprivileged children. Additionally, more than 70 sports scholarships were granted, according to a news release from A Precious Child.

Advertisement

The giveSPORTS program was started by A Precious Child founder Carina Martin at the urging of her son, Dustin.

The idea for was born on a shopping trip for a new bat for Dustin, an avid baseball player. Purchasing one on sale for more than $300, Dustin turned to his mom and asked how the children served by A Precious Child — which also provides everyday necessities and holiday gifts for families and school supplies for kids — could play sports given the expense.

Jessica Ghawi (Erin Hull / The Denver Post)

Her response: "Good question."

They went right home and started brainstorming names for the program.

"I had no idea it would make such an impact on the community so quickly," Martin said last year. "But that's thanks to Kroenke Sports. ... (Kroenke has been) one of the most incredibly impactful partners we could ask for."

(Dustin Martin, by the way, this year received a Teens in Action Award from CenturyLink and the Colorado Rockies for his role in starting the giveSPORTS program. The awards honored six Colorado teenagers for making a difference in their community through outstanding volunteer efforts.)

Kroenke Sports became a player in the giveSPORTS mission largely because of Ghawi, who was a journalist and avid sports fan who was just starting her career in sports journalism.

Though a meeting was set with A Precious Child before Ghawi's death in the July 20, 2012, theater shooting, which also claimed the lives of 11 others and wounded 58, after the tragedy the partnership took on new meaning.

Now the drive keeps Ghawi's passion alive. It returns for its third annual run on Aug. 23.

Once again, donations of new and gently-used sports equipment and money will be taken in the parking lot of the Pepsi Center. Greeting those who donate will be volunteers and sports and media personalities, though just who will be there hasn't been released. But the effort is supported by a number of big-name athletes, including some well-known members of the Colorado Rockies, Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and Colorado Mammoth, so those who drop by might be in for a treat.

Celebrities or no, the true purpose is to make a difference in the lives of kids.

"We are relying on the community to help bring sports into the lives of Colorado children in need. This truly is a community effort," Carina Martin stated in the news release. "Sports provide children with much more than an entry into healthy living. They enable kids to build confidence, learn teamwork, and challenge themselves to work for a greater outcome. Sports help kids build important life skills that encourage learning and growth."

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story